Hormuz Sealed: Qatari LNG Carriers Reversing and Global Supply Shock
So far, no liquefied gas from the Gulf area. Two Qatari vessels carrying liquefied natural gas (LNG) have been forced to abandon their attempt to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, in what would have been Qatar's first LNG export in over a month.
The Al Daayen and the Rasheeda halted their attempt to pass through the Strait of Hormuz on Monday; vessel tracking data collected by Bloomberg shows they reversed course away from the strait after initially heading east.
Al Daayen continues to report that China, Qatar's largest LNG buyer, is its next destination, although the destinations are not final as these vessels can change their designated port of call at any time.
The ships loaded their cargo in late February, shortly before the outbreak of hostilities, and then headed Monday morning toward the eastern entrance of the strait, near Oman. However, they were forced to turn around at approximately 06:50 UTC. Iran effectively blocked the waterway, allowing only authorized or "non-hostile" vessels to pass. This indirectly means that these vessels are considered unfriendly.
Average traffic through the waterway has plummeted to five to seven ships per day, a 95% drop from the pre-war average of around 130 to 160. Nearly three-quarters of the ships that have passed through the strait since the blockade began are owned by Iran or its shadow fleet. Most of the non-Iranian vessels authorized to pass are linked to China, accounting for about 10% of recent traffic. Some oil tankers from India, Pakistan, and Greece have also been granted passage following specific negotiations. On Thursday, a container ship owned by the French group CMA CGM became the first Western-linked vessel to transit the strait since the Middle East conflict began in late February, while on Friday, a Japanese-owned LNG carrier successfully passed through the strait after negotiations with the Tehran authorities.
Iranian missile and drone attacks in March significantly damaged Qatar's Ras Laffan export facility, knocking out approximately 17% of its capacity. QatarEnergy declared force majeure on several long-term LNG supply contracts, with some repairs to damaged infrastructure estimated to take up to five years. The shutdown halted approximately 20% of global daily LNG flows, driving gas prices in Europe and Asia to multi-year highs.
The author, Fabio Lugano, graduated with honors from Bocconi University and is an expert in markets, cryptocurrencies, and artificial intelligence. He previously served as a consultant to the European Parliament and the Ministry for European Affairs. He now helps companies develop development plans for technological innovation and energy. Linkedin at this link
The article Hormuz sealed: Qatar's LNG tankers in reverse and the global supply shock comes from Economic Scenarios .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/hormuz-sigillato-le-metaniere-del-qatar-in-retromarcia-e-lo-shock-globale-dellofferta/ on Tue, 07 Apr 2026 08:00:47 +0000.